


The Walking Wounded

by siderealSandman



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Blood, Canon Non-Typical Violence, Child Neglect, F/M, Gratuitous Scion References, Gratuitous Wrestling References, Gratuitous heavy metal references, Guilt, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Minor Zeus/Ganymede, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Profanity, Suggestive Material, The Sublime Confusion Between Nineteen and Twenty Nine, Twenty-Somethings Being Twenty-Somethings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2020-01-13 12:00:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18468520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siderealSandman/pseuds/siderealSandman
Summary: Four years after her brother's death, Thalia Grace finds herself walking away from the Hunt, trying to find some way to end the nightmares that haunt her. But after so many years of struggling to find a way to move on, one last quest with one unlikely partner just might offer the closure she needs.





	1. Here I Go Again On My Own

The best thing about quitting an immortal cabal of eternally young huntresses was that Thalia could safely unpack everything she owned in the span of ten minutes.

 

The sum of her worldly belongings amounted to a backpack full of clothes that fit her less and less with each passing day and a small collection of magical weaponry that took up the bulk of her closet space. A bag of toiletries and a shiny new Guns and Roses poster she bought from Target represented everything Thalia owned after departing from the Hunt of Artemis.

 

Thalia wasn’t exactly expecting a severance package, but a couple hundred bucks for bus fare might have been nice.

 

The fact that she was allowed to leave at all without being magically transformed into some kind of woodland creature should have exceeded her wildest expectations. It still took two days of walking/hitchhiking to get to New Rome in boots that tightened as her body grew with each passing hour. As it turned out, the reason most girls never left the hunt was that the eternal youth that came with the deal only seemed to stop the onset of aging as long as Artemis willed it. She hadn’t realized how much she had grown until she ran into Annabeth on the street who promptly dropped her laptop in shock at the sight of a twenty year old Thalia once again towering a full inch and a half over Annabeth’s head.

 

A soft knock jarred Thalia out of her musing as the door to her bedroom door creaked open. “Thought you would have decorated the place already.”

 

“Yeah, well...still getting used to sleeping somewhere with actual walls,” Thalia chuckled, running a hand through her freshly dyed hair as she glanced at Percy. It wasn’t fair that the scrawny kid who had pulled her out of the tree had grown up so much since she saw him last. Even in her new boots, she still only came up to his eyebrows; a fact that seemed to amuse the son of Poseidon to no end.

 

“I could always set up a tent on the roof to make you feel more at home,” Percy said, lips twitching into a teasing smirk.

 

“After rediscovering the joys of central heat?” Thalia snorted. “Hard pass.”

 

“Well, I was gonna build a campfire to provide the authentic Hunters of Artemis experience,” Percy said. “Roast marshmallows; sing Kumbaya. The works.”

 

“Damn, really taking this sacred hospitality thing seriously, aren’t you?” Thalia said, fidgeting with the buckle on her new belt.

 

“I seem to remember your dad doesn’t take too kindly to people who don’t,” Percy said.

 

“I promise to send a good report,” Thalia said, chewing on her lower lip. “Thanks, by the way.”

 

“You said that already,” Percy said.

 

“Yeah, and I’m saying it again,” Thalia said, narrowing her eyes. “So shut up and let me.”

 

When she had first considered leaving the Hunt, she had sent Annabeth and Percy a postcard, trying to find out if she would even have a place to crash if she did. Annabeth’s open invitation bounced around the back of Thalia’s mind in the weeks, months, and years following her brother’s death. She had just assumed that three years later, Annabeth and Percy would have been posted up in a cute little cottage in New Rome, probably on their way to being Mr. and Mrs. Percy Jackson.

 

The fact that Annabeth was currently engaged to her brother’s ex-girlfriend was something Thalia didn’t even know until she arrived; one more thing she had missed roaming the wilderness.

 

“I’m just...I don’t know, glad you were still cool with putting me up until I figured out what I wanted to do next,” Thalia said, rubbing her arm.

 

“Not like I’m using the room for anything; it’s been empty since…” Percy trailed off with a hollow chuckle. “Well, better than a futon at least, right?”

 

“A futon would have been paradise after so many nights using rocks as pillows,” Thalia said, dropping back on the bouncy twin bed with a small sigh. “Just...didn’t want to be underfoot with Annabeth and the soon to be Mrs. Chase...oh, sorry.”

 

“S’fine,” Percy said dismissively, shifting a little uncomfortably. “Old news.”

 

“Promise I won’t make a habit of it,” Thalia said. “Or eat your Wild Berry Pop Tarts.”

 

“Now _that_ I will take issue with,” Percy said, green eyes glinting dangerously. “Ask your brother what happens to people who steal my sugary-”

 

Percy trailed off, blinking and shaking his head as though it had taken him a few seconds to realize that she couldn’t very well go talk to Jason about anything anymore.

 

“Sorry,” Percy blurted out.

 

“No, it’s…” Thalia took a deep breath. “I’ve just...been surrounded the last couple years by people who didn’t know, and frankly, didn’t care about Jason like I did.”

 

It had been that first night after she learned what happened in the Burning Maze, stuffing her sleeping bag in her mouth to stifle her sobs so she wouldn’t wake anyone, that Thalia first felt her connection to the Hunt snap. Even the comfort Artemis offered was the otherworldly, detached kind of comfort that spoke of hurts hundreds of years old. She had ran to the Hunt to escape her heartache and, in the end, ran from it to find it again.

 

“I’m...looking forward to being reminded of him for a change,” Thalia said with an attempt at a smile.

 

“...still can’t steal my Pop Tarts,” Percy mumbled, earning a genuine laugh from Thalia. “I have one consolation in life and it involves toaster pastries; don’t take this from me.”

 

“I’ve spent the last four years eating rabbit cooked over a smoldering campfire; if I want a Pop-Tart, I’m gonna have a fucking Pop-Tart.”

* * *

 

_“Jason?”_

_Thalia reached out, sliding open the shaky wooden closet door. Light spilled on her younger brother sitting against the far wall of the closet, clutching his teddy bear and looking fearfully up at her._

_“Just me,” Thalia said soothingly, shuffling down to the floor of the closet and tucking an arm around Jason’s shoulder. The muffled sounds of their mother drunkenly belting out Laura Branigan in the living room wafted through the flimsy closet walls, the smell of cheap, backalley pot wafting through the air. Friday nights were what passed for social nights in the Grace household, which meant too much vodka, too many drugs, and the absolute worst covers of 80’s top 40 hits until the neighbors called the police._

_All in all, not Thalia’s favorite night of the week._

_“I don’t like this song,” Jason mumbled, sleepily rubbing his eye with one hand._

_“Sorry, kid; our mom’s no Pat Benatar,” Thalia said, smoothing Jason’s frizzy gold hair. “You’ll get used to it.”_

_He shouldn’t have had to get used to it; four year olds shouldn’t have been hiding in a closet at twelve thirty, trying to get away from their mother’s banshee screeching. It was nights like these that Thalia wondered how much a bus ticket to the other side of the country would cost, and how much she could steal from her mother without her noticing._

_“Hey,” Thalia said, turning to her brother who was sucking on the business end of a stapler. “Where’d you get that? You’re not supposed to-”_

_“Ow!” Jason yelped as the stapler bit down on his lip. Even in the dim light she could see red trickling down Jason’s lips. Despite that, he wasn’t crying; he learned long ago their mother didn’t tolerate that._

_“Shhshhshh, you’re okay,” Thalia said, dabbing at her brother’s lip with the corner of a nearby blanket which slowly turned dark red as the blood started pouring out of Jason’s mouth in earnest; first a few drops, then a steady pulsing torrent of blood that soaked the sheet in crimson._

_“Stay here,” Thalia stammered, stumbling out of the closet and out into the hazy hallway. “Mom! Mom, Jason’s hurt!”_

_Thalia staggered through the smoky haze, twisting through the winding labyrinthine hallways towards the living room as she called out for her mother._

_“Mom!” Thalia called, coughing on the smoke. “Mom, Jason’s hurt, he needs help!”_

_No matter which way she turned, she couldn’t seem to make it to the living room. Every corner was a dead end, and even when she doubled back, she couldn’t seem to find where she was going. Breathing hard, she started running faster and faster, hands scrambling along the walls as she tried to find a way out._

_“HELP!” Thalia screamed at the top of her lungs. “MOM, HELP, JASON’S-”_

_Thalia stopped in her tracks as she rounded the corner, seeing her younger brother standing in the hallway, teddy bear dangling from one hand and dripping blood on the carpet. His free hand clutched the cut on his lip, crimson spilling through his stubby little fingers as he looked up at her accusingly._

_“Why,” Jason said. “Why aren’t you helping me? Why won’t you do anything? Why did you leave me-”_

_Jason stopped as a sharp, barbed spear point burst out of his chest, tearing through his pajama top and jutting out the other side. Jason looked down at the weapon feebly, touching the tip of it as he slowly sank to his knees._

_“Thalia…” Jason croaked. “Thalia…_ THALIA!”

 

Thalia jerked awake, legs tangled in her blankets as she fell out of the bed, banging her head on the side of the bedside table. Instinctively, she grabbed at her spear, unfurling it as the knocking at her bedroom door grew louder and louder.

 

“ _I’m breaking the door down!”_ Percy’s voice called from the other side of the door as Thalia staggered across the room, one hand holding up her makeshift toga.

 

“Hang on,” Thalia mumbled sleepily, unlocking the door and stepping back as Percy came rushing in, wearing a pair of backwards basketball shorts and carrying an unsheathed Riptide at the ready.

 

“Whoa, whoa, what the hell?!” Thalia asked, backing against the wall as Percy stuck his head out the window, checked under her bed, and opened the closet with the tip of his sword. “Can I help you?”

 

Percy frowned at her curiously. “Funny, that's what I was gonna say,” Percy said, looking at her curiously. “What’s going on? You were calling for help at the top of your lungs just a few seconds ago.”

 

Thalia blinked, rubbing the growing lump on her head. “It’s nothing…”

 

“Nothing has you screaming at the top of your lungs at three in the morning and leaves you with a bump on your-”

 

“I said it’s _nothing_!” Thalia snapped, a smoky electric _snap_ lingering in the apartment air as her bedside lamp randomly flickered on. “When I say it’s _nothing_ I mean it’s _nothing_ , so _mind your damn business!”_

 

Percy looked wounded for a split second before a small scowl darkened his features. “Sorry; next time I hear you screaming for help, I’ll just assume you got it handled,” Percy grumbled, capping his sword and stamping out of her room. Thalia tossed her spear to one side, rubbing at her head with a small wince as she sat down on the bed. She stared at the open closet for a moment, closing her eyes as the fragmented memories of the dream coalesced. Before she knew what she was doing, she was sliding down the closet wall and closing the door behind her, encasing herself in a dark forest of freshly laundered t-shirts.

 

_“Why didn’t you help me? Why won’t you do anything? Why did you leave me?”_

Thalia closed her eyes tightly, pulling the blanket up around herself as she drifted off into an uneasy sleep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...I'm writing this story for two reasons. 
> 
> 1) I'm Perlia trash til the day I am fucking dead in the ground and I was tired of looking for good completed fics to read (recs are very much welcome) 
> 
> 2) I was...actually genuinely affected by Jason's death and I need an outlet for my feelings 
> 
> 3) I don't have a group to play Scion with and I need an outlet for my mythological bullshit. 
> 
> Either way, I'll be chipping away at this piece/dragging as many unfortunate souls as possible into Perlia hell with me. If you like where I'm going so far, a review would be very much appreciated!


	2. Sister Christian

“All settled in?”

 

Thalia finished her float with a burp that earned a scowl from the girl working the burger shack Annabeth had taken her to. “Just about,” Thalia said, popping an onion ring in her mouth with a drawn out sigh. “ _Fuck_ I forgot how good partially hydrogenated vegetable oil tastes...you gonna eat that?”

 

“If I say yes, are you going to eat my hands?” Annabeth said, nudging the plate of fries across the table.

 

“Hey, my body finally caught up with the rest of me,” Thalia said, scraping the sides of her float glass with a fry. “You try physically aging four years in four days and see how hungry you are.”

 

“Point,” Annabeth said, unable to stifle a giggle as Thalia practically inhaled the plate of fries in front of her.

 

“What?” Thalia said, fry hanging out of the corner of her mouth.

 

“I was going to ask how you were getting along with Percy, but I think I have my answer,” Annabeth said, leaning in and taking a sip of her shake. “I forgot how much you remind me of him.”

 

“ _He_ reminds you of _me,”_ Thalia said, jabbing a fry in Annabeth’s direction. “I was here first and tree-time notwithstanding, I’m still four years older than both of you; I’m not about to be replaced by some upstart swim jock with a magic sword.”

 

“Alright,” Annabeth said, holding her hands up. “So how is the swim jock with the magic sword?" 

 

Thalia shrugged, chewing her fries thoughtfully. In the three weeks Thalia had lived in New Rome, she had spent most of her time acclimating to her new form, demolishing training dummies at the practice grounds, and generally embracing the dull roar of city life while Percy attended classes. She had spent entire afternoons sitting on park benches, balancing a mint mocha in her hands and getting used to being around _people_ again. Men and women; demigods and mortals. New Rome was a perfect microcosm of a world where half-bloods didn’t need to hide who they were.

 

It had been peachy up until her new roommate was treated to a Thalia Grace Nightmare Concert at three in the morning. 

 

“He’s out most of the day,” Thalia said. “Comes back around four or so to do homework, eat dinner, and watch TV. We’re not exactly tripping over each other, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

 

“I’m just wondering how you’re adjusting to life back in civilization,” Annabeth said, leaning in on her hands. “Especially since you’re living with...”

 

Thalia squinted at Annabeth for a second before rolling her eyes. “You _can’t_ be serious.”

 

“I-It’s a big adjustment!” Annabeth said. “After going from living exclusively with girls for four years to-”

 

“A big, scary _maaaaaaan_ ,” Thalia said, wiggling her fingers. “You’re right Annabeth; men are basically cryptids! My delicate feminine sensibilities cannot stand such raw masculine presence!”

 

“You know what, forget I asked,” Annabeth grumbled, blowing bubbles in her shake. “You two can be twin pains in my ass together.”

 

“That why you left him?” Thalia asked, snapping a fry in half with her teeth.

 

“It’s...complicated,” Annabeth said, scratching the back of her arm.

 

“Complicated like you wanted to suddenly bone down with my brother’s ex or-”

 

“Complicated for a _lot_ of reasons,” Annabeth snapped, grey eyes narrowing. “Piper wasn’t a part of it.”

 

A moment of silence stretched into two, punctuated by Thalia blowing through her nose. “...shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to go there.”

 

Annabeth grunted non-committedly, stirring her shake with a small frown. “Percy is...probably the best guy I’ve ever known in my life. He was sweet, funny, objectively very attractive...but something didn’t quite click for me for the longest time. I think...I don’t know...I was trying _so hard_ to feel for him like he felt for me that I didn’t realize the problem wasn’t Percy…”

 

“...it was guys,” Thalia said, raising an eyebrow as Annabeth nodded. “Oh…”

 

“Yeah,” Annabeth said, biting her lip. “It wasn’t ugly at least...maybe it would have been better if it were so we could stop being stuck in this weird limbo of maybe-friendship.”

 

“He misses you,” Thalia said after a moment. “Not even like...misses being your boyfriend. I can tell he just misses having you in his life.”

 

“...we agreed that space was probably for the best,” Annabeth sighed, running her hands through her hair.

 

“Yeah, well, that was dumb,” Thalia said, shrugging at Annabeth’s sharp glare. “What? You can’t always make good decisions. I’m just saying maybe ease back into shit bit by bit until you’re not so fucking awkward with each other anymore.”

 

“Is a former Hunter of Artemis really offering me _guy_ advice?” Annabeth asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

“Yeah; kinda speaks to how badly you need it,” Thalia snorted, finishing the last of her fries with a deep sigh. “Consider it payment for the lunch.”

 

“...so I’m not actually going to get paid back, am I?”

 

“Hunters of Artemis may be a nice gig, but the salary is non-fucking-existent my friend,” Thalia said, picking a fry bit out of her teeth with her tongue.

 

* * *

 

_“Sister Christian, there's so much in life. Don't you give it up before your time is due...It's true...It's true yeah!”_

Thalia stood in the doorway, letting the music wash over her as she was treated to the sight of the savior of Olympus making pancakes in his underwear while singing along to the radio.

 

“ _Motoring!”_ Percy sang in an ear splitting mockery of a hair metal singer, hips swinging to the pulsing beat of the drums. “ _What's your price for flight. You've got him in your sight! And driving through the-”_

“Fucking Night Ranger,” Thalia snorted, causing one of the three most powerful demigods in the world to jump, turn around, and burn the small of his back on the griddle. “Seriously?”

 

“Dude _knock!”_ Percy cried, turning the radio down and pulling an apron off the stove and over his blue boxer briefs. “I thought you were going to be out until tonight!”

 

“You gave me the key,” Thalia said, tossing her keys into the bowl on the counter. “You want me to announce myself too? Wear a bell around my neck?"

 

"Wouldn't hurt," Percy grumbled, piling his pancakes on his plate as a tense, awkward silence lingered between them. 

 

"Look, I'm..." Thalia rubbed the back of her neck. "Sorry I snapped at you last night." 

 

"Yeah, well...I would have snapped too if I was half-asleep and some weirdo was threatening to break my door down," Percy shrugged. "It's cool; not like I don't wake up screaming every now and then." 

 

"Comes with the territory," Thalia chuckled uneasily. "I won't make a habit of it." 

 

"Not like I don't have weird habits," Percy said, gesturing down to himself. 

 

"Didn't know one of them was listening to shitty power ballads in your panties in the common room?," Thalia snorted. 

 

Percy narrowed his eyes. “I-I’m sorry, did you just call Night Ranger _shitty_?”

 

“I did,” Thalia said, stepping past Percy and pulling a Coke out of the fridge. “Because they are.”

 

“They’re _classic_!” Percy protested, snatching the Coke bottle from Thalia’s hand.

 

“Classically _shitty_ ,” Thalia said, tugging at the string that held Percy’s apron up and snatching the Coke back from him as he dropped his hands to grab it. “That’s like calling Vanilla Ice classic hip hop; just because it was made a long-ass time ago, doesn’t mean it’s any good.”

 

“I’m sorry, this coming from the girl with a Dragonforce poster on her wall?” Percy laughed, paling as Thalia whipped around, blue eyes narrowing into twin chunks of ice.

 

“The _fuck_ did you just say?”

 

“You heard me,” Percy said, crossing his arms across his bare chest. “Power metal is just hair metal for _nerds_.”

 

“Take that back,” Thalia said, brandishing her Coke bottle like a javelin. “Or so help me, I will strike you.”

 

“You know, I call my vacuum cleaner Manowar because it’s been around since the 80’s and it hasn’t stopped sucking a day in it’s life,” Percy said, grinning at the incensed look on Thalia’s face.

 

“ _Do you want to get striked?!”_ Thalia snapped. “My dad owes me for about twenty missed birthdays; I’m pretty sure I could arrange a smiting. Fuck it; homelessness would be worth erasing your tasteless ass from existence.”

 

“Killing me doesn’t make Nightwish any less pretentious,” Percy snorted.

 

“Wow; I didn’t realize it was physically possible for someone to have _such_ shitty taste in so many things,” Thalia said, shaking her head. “Next thing you’re gonna tell me is that Metallica sold out _after_ the Black Album.”

 

“Nah, that was just when they started getting good,” Percy said, ducking out of the way of a static electricity charged Coke bottle as it zoomed towards his head. “Oh, so _Enter Sandman_ sucks then?”

 

“You are a sad, misguided man-thing,” Thaia said with a thoughtful nod. “And I’m going to have to fix that at some point. Consider refining your godawful musical tastes as part of my rent.”

 

“...so, I’m not actually going to get any rent then, am I?”

 

“Why does everyone think I got _paid_ to kill monsters?” Thalia asked, slamming the door behind her as the chorus of _Sister Christian_ blasted over the speakers. “Hero of Olympus, ladies and gentlemen…”

 


	3. Combat Rock

_Beep!_

 

_Thunk-thunk-thunkthunk-thunk!_

 

_Beep!_

 

_Thunk-thunk-thunkthunk-thunkthunk!_

 

_Beep!_

 

_Thunk-thunk-thunkthunk-thunk-thunkthunk!_

 

Every time the buzzer rang, Thalia snapped forward in a flurry of motion, spear head and shaft lashing out in a sharp staccato rhythm. Her weapon struck the dummy on each each glowing mark the computer generated within a hair’s breadth of each other, spinning in a halo of celestial bronze before returning to its resting position, spear tip pointed down and waiting for the next exercise.

 

_Beep!_

 

_Thunk-thunk-thunkthunk-thunk-thunk-thunk!_

 

She could feel the eyes of the other demigods on her as she trained, wind carrying whispered snatches of their conversation towards her. Curious glances and pointed fingers had followed her since arriving in New Rome; whether it was because she was Jason’s sister or Zeus’ daughter, she didn’t know or particularly care. Thalia hadn’t come to the clinical Camp Jupiter gymnasium Percy recommended to grease the rumor mills.

 

_Beep!_

 

With a final flurry of thrusts, shaft strikes, and butt jabs, Thalia finished her workout, implanting her spear in the chest of the training dummy as she limped off to the side to get a drink of water. Her name flashed on a scoreboard above the simulator, a “ _New High Score!”_ message flashing before displaying the current rankings  


  1. **T.Grace** -256 pts
  2. ****J. Grace-** 255 pts**
  3. **P. Jackson-** 254 pts
  4. ****J. Grace** -253 pts**
  5. **A.Chase-** 191 pts
  6. **F. Zhang-** 150 pts
  7. **K. Omega-** 144 pts
  8. **P. McLean** -140 pts
  9. **S. Banks-** 129 pts
  10. **C. Rhodes-** 120 pts



 

She paused with the water halfway to her lips, watching Jason’s name blink in the number 2 spot until the screen cleared, replaced with the mundane flashing of the simulation screen inviting her to try again.Maybe this time she would knock Jason’s name lower. And the next time he would slip to fourth, then to fifth, then completely erased from the board’s memory forever. She could clear the board until she was the only Grace remembered in this posh, sleek, all too-clinical training facility.

 

Thalia stood, walking over to the training dummy to retrieve her spear when she heard the telltale sound of an arrow being drawn, knocked, and aimed in her direction coming from behind her. She dropped to one knee, extending her shield just in time to catch an arrow that ricocheted harmlessly off the frozen image of horror.

 

“Fast as ever, I see,” a familiar voice chuckled, making Thalia’s blood run cold as she peeked her head out from behind her shield. It was Artemis...and yet it wasn’t Artemis. The tall, graceful looking woman had Artemis’ face, carried Artemis’ bow, and spoke with Artemis’ voice, but she seemed infinitely more prim than the goddess Thalia had served for almost five years.

 

“Hello again, Thalia,” Diana said, stowing her bow with a flick of her wrist as Thalia refused to fully step out from behind her shield. “You can put that away; I’m not going to hurt you.”

 

“Says the goddess who just shot an arrow at my head,” Thalia laughed humorlessly. “This part of the severance package? You guys hunt down anyone who tries to leave?”

 

“You and I both know that if I wanted to shoot you, you wouldn’t have been able to block it,” Diana said, a thin smile creeping across her face. “I just wanted to see if you had gotten sloppy since I last saw you.”

 

“Nothing about me is sloppy,” Thalia chuckled, yanking her spear out of the training dummy and returning it to its canister form. “Are the girls nearby?”

 

“We’re camping up in Knowland Park,” Diana said, stepping up and examining the training dummy Thalia had been sparring with. “Rome tends to make the girls a little...nervous.”

 

“Yeah, I feel that,” Thalia said with a small shiver. “I mean, beats the hell out of New York, but all the asphalt and...civilization takes some getting used to.”

 

“I would ask if you had any regrets about leaving, but I think we both know the answer to that,” Diana said serenely.

 

“No, I...had to go,” Thalia said, nodding as though to reaffirm her decision to herself. "I was...slipping towards the end. You can't have someone who can barely catch two nights of uninterrupted sleep in charge of people's lives..." 

 

“I know,” Diana said. “From the moment I told you about Jason’s death, I knew you were going to leave me...I didn’t expect you to wait two years, but it wasn’t a choice I wanted to rush. I admit I had...selfish reasons for keeping you close.”

 

“Funny; I half expected to be turned into a doe and shot full of arrows as soon as I left the camp,” Thalia joked.

 

“Thalia, when have I ever gotten in the way of a woman's right to choose her own destiny?” Diana asked, a somewhat hurt expression on her face. “You came to me lost, alone, and hurting as all my girls do, but after your brother... _our_ brother’s death, I could tell that the Hunt was no longer a haven for you. I am just sorry that you did not tell me sooner.”

 

There were a couple dozen reasons for that; fear, uncertainty, lack of any stable place to land when she left. But she didn’t want to leave until she knew she _had_ to; until the dreams of her brother called stronger than the thrill of another mad moonlight hunt.

 

“So uh,” Thalia coughed to clear the lump in her throat. “Who do you have replacing me?”

 

“I was actually wondering if you could lend some counsel on that subject,” Diana said with a small sigh. “Josephine has seniority but-”

 

“Indecisive,” Thalia said, remembering the cautious twelve year old who was afraid to draw her own bow unless she knew it was going to hit.

 

“Arianna has made a bid for it, but I fear she’s too reckless,” Diana said, pinching the bridge of her nose. “And I can’t offer it to both of them since they would undermine one another at every turn.”

 

Thalia crossed her arms, brow knitting in concentration for a moment, before looking up. “Chloe.”

 

“...Chloe?” Diana said, raising an eyebrow. “She’s only been with us a few summers.”

 

“You don’t need a grandmaster tactician; you need someone to be in the trenches with the girls and lead by example,” Thalia said. “Chloe is empathetic; she knows how to keep morale up and cares about us...about  _them._ She may not want the job, but she’s the best girl for it. And she’ll grow into it...like I did.”

 

“I will...think on this,” Diana said, standing up off the wall. “Thank you.”

 

“Thanks for not going all Acteon on me when I left,” Thalia said, holding her hands up as Diana looked at her disappointed. “Kidding, kidding.”

 

“For someone named after the goddess of comedy, your attempts at humor leave something to be desired,” Diana sighed, looking Thalia over. “For what it’s worth, mortality suits you better than most.”

 

“I think I filled out okay,” Thalia said, flexing her bicep experimentally. “Tell Josie if she wants an arm wrestling rematch, she knows where to find me. I'm not above humiliating children in displays of physical power.”

 

“And I should hope that you will always know where to find us,” Diana said, brushing a sweaty lock of hair out of Thalia's eyes. “Whatever road you walk or vow you make, we are sisters; now and forever.”

 

Artemis’ penchant for grand, declarative oaths was never more appreciated than in that moment. Thalia swallowed a lump in her throat, forcing out a small smile as Diana disengaged and headed towards the door.

 

“...oh,” Diana paused, lingering somewhat awkwardly in the doorway for a moment. “I understand that you’re...cohabiting with Percy Jackson.”

 

“That’s one way of putting it,” Thalia snorted, failing to notice the flush on Diana’s normally pale complexion. “Helps to have a live in training partner, that’s for sure.”

 

“Is that what they call it these days,” Diana mused, tilting her head to one side. “Interesting.”

 

“Pardon?”

 

“I...well, hope you enjoy your _training_ ,” Diana said with an uncertain smile. “And...be sure to train safely.”

 

“I...will?” Thalia said with a frown, glancing down at her shield. “What are you-”

 

Thalia looked up and DIana was gone, the smell of pine needles the only sign she had ever been there to begin with.

 

“Weird,” Thalia muttered as the sound of a distant crowd cheering drew her from her reverie. She noticed that her looky-loos had all disappeared and a number of Camp Jupiter demigods were running down the hallway, talking excitedly to one another as they went. Thalia followed them, passing fountains of Gatorade and dryad led yoga classes as she headed down the hall.

 

The hallway opened up into a small outdoor amphitheater with rows of bleachers leading to the edge of a broad, sandy pit. Sand and the setting sun concealed the motion in the pit, but judging by the sound of metal on metal, Thalia had finally found something real in a sea of engineered perfection.

 

A trio of red armored warriors stood, shields in one hand and weapons in the other, advancing on a tall, unarmored form towards the back of the arena.

 

“Now who said you could work as a team?” An all too familiar voice called as the sand dissipated. Percy stood in a torn, sweat-stained Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, Riptide hanging casually from one hand with the tip pointed down towards the sand. Sweat glistened on his brow, his hair a tousled mess, but other than that, he looked completely unbothered. As though fighting three demigods was little more of a challenge to him than going for a morning run.

 

Advancing as one, they crashed towards him, and Percy just melted, slipping between their defenses and catching one or two of them with a smack on the back of their calves. They whirled around to strike, but Percy was no longer there, lashing out with Riptide like a snake that circumvented every defense they tried to throw up. They couldn’t hit him, no matter how fast their swords moved; he was an orange blur in a sea of purple, whirling and striking without pause as his blade dug scars in the shields of his opponents. 

 

Thalia had never bought into the “Big Three” hype like so many people seemed to. She didn’t think her father’s blood made her any stronger or faster than any other demigod. But watching Percy fight, there was a measurable gap between him and the trio of opponents who tried to stop him. All of them were winded, panting, swinging their weapons with leaden determination while Percy just _grinned;_ a flashing white predatory grin that made Thalia’s heart rate spike.

 

Thalia had always believed in her own power; now something inside her demanded that she measure it against Percy’s.

 

Percy’s eyes glanced upwards for a brief moment, catching hers as one of the Roman demigods lunged with a spear. Without really taking his eyes off her, he effortlessly parried the spear, smacking his opponent on the shoulder with the flat of his blade as they tumbled past him. His eyes were still locked with hers as he ducked under an axe swing, tossing another demigod on top of his friend with his shoulder. The only reason he looked away from the final challenger was to spin behind him, slicing the straps holding his armor up and pressing the tip of his sword against the back of his neck.

 

A smatter of cheers and disappointed jeering broke out through the entirely Camp Jupiter crowd as Percy hauled his challengers to their feet, dusting them off and sending them back into the stands with a pat on the shoulder.

 

“I gotta split here pretty soon here, so if anyone else wants to take a _stab_ at me-” Percy waited until they stopped booing his dumbass pun. “-now’s your chance.”

 

A small murmur passed through the crowd, complete with Roman half-bloods shoving each other forward as a joke but Percy wasn’t paying attention. Judging by the way he was looking at her, the open invitation was intended for her ears only.

 

“I mean, if there’s no one _man—_ orwoman—enough to man—orwoman—up and fight me man to man—orwoman—then I guess I’ll-”

 

To his credit, Percy didn’t flinch as Thalia launched her spear over the heads of the crowd of onlookers and into the loose sandy floor below. The crowd split like the Red Sea; partly out of fear of the crazed spear-throwing  madwoman who vaulted the edge of the arena and landed twenty feet below in a perfect three-point landing in front of her buried spear.

 

“You know if you wanted your ass kicked so badly, you should have just asked,” Thalia said, yanking the spear out of the ground. "I do requests you know." 

 

“Why do you think I let you use my gym membership?” Percy said, stretching his neck with a pop that echoed throughout the small arena. “We never finished that spat we had all those years ago at CHB.”

 

“You mean the one where I tased you and you fell over like a fainting goat?” Thalia said, eliciting a small chorus of _oohs_ from the crowd above them. “You need to look up the definition of _hubris_ again?”

 

“It’s only hubris if I lose,” Percy said, twirling Riptide in one hand as he extended his shield with a snap of his wrist. “First blood?”

 

“Best of three,” Thalia said, hefting her spear to her shoulder. “Unless you don’t want to bleed that much.”

 

“Fine by me, but I’m nothing like the deer you’ve been hunting for the last four years,” Percy said, slowly starting to pace around the edge of the arena.

 

“You’re right; deer didn’t talk this much,” Thalia said, a cruel smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

 

* * *

 

“You like these?”

 

Annabeth looked up from her book to see Piper showing her a picture of floral patterned china plates on her tablet.

 

“Do they come in green?”

 

“I can ask,” Piper shrugged, leaning back against Annabeth as the lazy Sunday afternoon wafted by in the park. “We should see if the florist will-”

 

An earth shattering _crash_ of lightning jolted the soon to be married couple off the bench, scrambling for their weapons as the ground beneath them started to shake. Parkgoers turned in confusion, scampering away as the ground shook, fountain splitting in two and spraying water everywhere. Through the haze of panic, Annabeth could see another lightning bolt strike the gymnasium at the far edge of Camp Jupiter, the ground beneath her feet shaking as she hauled Piper to her feet.

 

“You think its a monster?” Piper panted, dagger glinting in her hands.

 

“One way to find out,” Annabeth said, gripping Piper’s hand as they ran through crowds of panicked demigods, leaning on each other as the ground shook in short tremors of force that nearly knocked them over. It was as though someone was striking a hammer against the earth, each blow being felt for a mile around the gymnasium and growing more and more insistent as Piper and Annabeth drew closer.

 

Frank’s clean-cut head stood shoulders above the small contingent of Camp Jupiter demigods huddled together outside the gymnasium. The taste of iron and the tingling of electric potential hung in the air as another lightning bolt struck the building.

 

“What’s going on?!” Annabeth asked. “Is everybody out?”

 

“Everybody got out before the fighting started,” Frank sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose as another tremor rocked the ground.

 

“Shouldn’t we be getting in there?” Piper asked, gripping Annabeth’s arm tighter as the gymnasium shook violently, tiles falling off the roof as Frank just shook his head.

 

“Best to let them just finish what they started…” Frank said, crossing his arms as he waited for the last tremor to subside. He waited a long, pregnant moment before nodding to the medics, striding forward and kicking the door open. The once pristine, almost medical facility was in disarray with windows broken, tiles smashed, and exercise equipment more and more disheveled as they approached the arena at the far side of the facility.

 

“You done?!” Frank called out, kicking the door to the arena open and revealing an epicenter of raw, primal destruction. The dirt floor had been rattled so many times that it sank a full forty feet into the ground, the pristine marble bleachers all shattered and tumbling into the pit as Annabeth approached. At the bottom of the pit, she could just barely make out two figures, both battered, bruised, and barely kneeling with their hands tightly wrapped around their weapons. Their clothes were torn, their hair was caked in mud and dirt, but Annabeth could just barely make out the wide, manic grins on the faces of Thalia and Percy.

  
“Why am I _not_ surprised?” Annabeth sighed.


End file.
